What to do before a half marathon?

This month is my month of 20 mile long runs. I've done two of them and the 3rd one is scheduled for the 28th, on the marathon course I'm running as my second marathon.My thought is that by familiarizing myself with the course, the second marathon of the two in one weekend won't seem like never ending death crawl.

The issue I'm dealing with is that I'm running a half marathon this weekend. I had originally planned on just running it as a training run and enjoying the beer after. Lately I've had the desire to put some effort into the run and see where my speed takes me. I haven't done any speed work to speak of, but my endurance allows me to hold on to the pace for a while.

My normal running pattern for a week this month has been 7 miles on Monday, 10 miles on Wed., 4 or 5 on Friday, and 20 miles on Saturday. I'm debating on how much to 'taper' for the half marathon. I ran 5 today, and am debating on running 10, 7 or 5 on Wed. I'm sure my legs would appreciate running 5, but my head tells me to run at least 7. What does the Loop think? I've got just over a month until my double marathon weekend so I don't think it really matters about mileage any more.

Ok, so I am apparently the weird one here. (Shocker, right?!?) I don't like being too familiar with the course. Yeah, it's good for the end when you know you're close to a time goal and the finish line. But, if I am too familiar with the course, I find myself going "I'm only here?!? I have soo much more to go."

It's the second marathon course of the weekend, RNF. I figure I'll want to know how much more suffering is left in the 26 mile recovery run.

Ok, so I am apparently the weird one here. (Shocker, right?!?) I don't like being too familiar with the course. Yeah, it's good for the end when you know you're close to a time goal and the finish line. But, if I am too familiar with the course, I find myself going "I'm only here?!? I have soo much more to go."

I'd just move your Friday run to Thursday and next Monday's run to Tuesday. You'll feel fresh for the half and by surrounding it with rest days you can push the effort and still pick up strong next week leading up to your next 20. Good idea, by the way, getting familiar with the course. It will help to have some mental landmarks along the way come race day. And if all else fails, just make yourself love the death crawl.

I've "trained through" a couple of halfs before. I usually ended up taking it easy just the couple of days before the race. The key is to recover properly after the half; eat well/correctly right afterwards and do some easy mileage the following days.

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